


Snooping

by ScullyLovesQueequeg



Category: The X-Files
Genre: Complete, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-10
Updated: 2015-02-10
Packaged: 2018-03-11 11:08:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,250
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3325274
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScullyLovesQueequeg/pseuds/ScullyLovesQueequeg
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The prompt was "Early in their careers together, either Mulder OR Scully overhears the other talking about them in a restaurant over lunch (either by accident or intentionally)."</p><p>Mulder accidentally overhears Scully giving him high praises.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Snooping

**Author's Note:**

  * For [gilliandersob](https://archiveofourown.org/users/gilliandersob/gifts).



Mulder glanced over at the clock with a sigh. Up until an hour ago, he’d been looking forward to having lunch with Scully, but with the announcement that she was meeting someone, Mulder decided to stay in but hadn’t eaten yet. He was disappointed that Scully couldn’t join him, and he had been looking forward to going over the basics of the JFK conspiracy. He didn’t understand how she didn’t find the Grassy Knoll as exciting as he did but then again,  _she was the non-believer._

He rolled his shoulders back and pushed away from the desk. In another half hour, lunch would be over and then him and his partner would be back to doing research. That was his least favorite part of the job, but it was necessary in order to find the links others failed to see. Having Scully as an extra pair of eyes did help though, and as reluctant to have her company as he had been at first, he was warming to her. She was someone who had seen him as strange, though enticing. Despite the fact that she didn’t believe in the things he spoke of, she paid close attention to the cases and never made fun of him. She respected his work and for that he was grateful, and though he was still learning, he tried to show his gratitude as often as he could.

With his hands in the pockets of his slacks, he headed out of the office and subsequently the building to walk over to Sal’s, a favorite diner of his. When he wasn’t with Scully, he enjoyed going there, though with her he liked to class it up slightly by taking her to the Republican Convention—a restaurant not far from the national mall, with a name he thought she would appreciate. She didn’t, though.

Upon entering Sal’s and taking a booth by the window, he was surprised, when he heard a familiar voice ring out with quiet peals of laughter.

 _‘No, it couldn’t be…’_ Mulder thought quietly to himself. The laugh sounded like it could have been Scully’s, though he didn’t want to believe that he’d happened to pick the same place she had picked to eat lunch.

A quickglance over his shoulder confirmed his suspicions—his partner was there, having lunch with her friend, someone he hadn’t met before. He thought of saying hello and joining them but the thought occurred that if she wanted him to have joined them for lunch, she would have invited him as well. Instead, he remained in his seat, sliding just out of view, just behind a potted plant that was fixed between the wall and the window.

“…I saw Ralph the other day and he looked terrible…” Scully’s friend said, and Scully gave her a quiet chuckle, which Mulder read for a polite reply that masked her true feelings for the subject at the moment: that it was boring to her. Still, she offered her own input:

“Do you know what happened? I heard his partner died, so he hasn’t really been taking care of himself.” There was a brief pause and then the friend answered,

“Yeah, Zachary and Ralph were pretty close. I heard they were lovers. The whole incident at Waco was unfortunate. Speaking of partners though, how are you getting on with yours? I heard you got saddled with Spooky Mulder. Is he really into aliens, like everyone says he is?”

Mulder felt his heart stop momentarily; he had not expected to be the topic of the conversation, but here he was, a target of gossip, and perhaps malicious rumors. Curiosity got the better of him and he listened carefully as Scully prepared herself to divulge to her friend on how she felt about Mulder.

“Well, I’ll be honest with you Jem, he’s definitely into aliens. He likes to investigate far out stuff but as strange as it sounds, I like it. It’s… It’s…” She searched for words but they failed her and she let the statement die in the air, and resumed eating. There was a hint of perhaps more wanting to be said, but her friend waited, and she did not continue, so she pressed on:

“Aliens huh? Is he perhaps interested in anything a little more terrestrial?”

“What do you mean?” Scully asked, and Mulder rolled his eyes at the remark and indicated to the waitress who had made her way over, in a low tone that he wanted a club sandwich. She put down a mug and a coffee carafe for him to pour coffee. He nodded and thanked her silently as be began to pour himself the hot beverage. He went a little overboard with the sugar, but it was from the nerves that were forming upon eavesdropping on the conversation.

“I mean, is he chained, single, looking…? Or are you two knocking boots…?”

Mulder snorted quietly into his mug. It was an ugly phrase that he didn’t like to hear, and swallowing back the urge to say something, he continued to listen.

“Oh, well, no. We’re not doing anything. I think he’s in a committed relationship to his job. Takes it everywhere he goes. I actually worry sometimes, because he’s always alone but,” Scully gave off a sigh that spoke to a genuine concern, and Mulder was touched, though slightly insulted.

“I guess I’m always alone too. So I never bring it up. I started dating though.”

There was a silence that followed that Mulder guessed was her friend nonverbally responding to her admission, and Scully reflecting on what she said. The conversation had left more to be desired, and though it was impolite, he found himself wishing they would continue.

“Oh yeah? Anybody standing out yet?”

“No, not yet, I mean… The last guy I saw—Robert, he was nice but… boring, you know? I mean, he was an investment banker, and had a son but he didn’t really  _do_  anything.”

“You mean, he wasn’t exciting like Mulder is.”

There was a brief silence, in which Mulder took to mean she gave a look as a reply, and then her friend started up again,

“So Mulder’s single.”

The waitress stopped by Mulder’s table with his food. He began to eat slowly, still listening to the conversation.

“As far as I know—I mean, once his ex-girlfriend showed up from England, but he doesn’t talk to her still as far as I know. I honestly don’t think he has the time.” Scully said, though her tone sounded more worried than indifferent.

“Do you think he would be interested in someone like me? Like, the aliens thing—how bad is it? I mean, he’s very good looking, and since he’s an agent, he makes  _some_  money, and you know, since John left, I’ve been looking…” Scully’s friend said, and Mulder expected Scully to laugh. Instead, she sighed, perhaps a little too heavily for such a playful question.

“Honestly… I couldn’t say. I could introduce you…” There was something in her tone that gave Mulder the impression it was the exact opposite of what she had wanted to do, though.

“I could tell you how he is in bed…”

“Assuming you’d get that far.” Scully laughed at this, though her friend snorted indignantly.

“What makes you think I couldn’t?”

“Jem, I don’t even think Pamela Anderson herself could get Mulder to go to bed with her. He’s just too involved with his work.”

“Or maybe he already has someone else in mind. Who knows? One lonely night, when you’ve both had too much to drink and you’re both wishing—”

“Please don’t finish that. I think I may gag.”

Mulder rolled his eyes, though he was faintly aware that his face was red. He figured hers must have been too.

“You can’t tell me you’ve never thought about it…” There was a small silence and Mulder figured she had ended the conversation prematurely. However, Scully answered with,

“There was one time. It was on our first case together. I thought—I thought I was injured, and I came into his room in my underwear, and part of me really wanted to because the moment was just right, but instead, he directed me to sit in a chair, and waited for me to get decent. He’s… He’s different, you know? Like… When he talks to me, I think he genuinely regards me as the Watson to his Sherlock—not that I mind, I mean, when I talk to him, I can tell he genuinely cares about what I have to say, and he’s amazing when it comes to connecting the dots… I mean he’s probably a genius or something…” Scully paused when she realized she sounded as though she were gushing. She let out a small laugh that sounded forced, and her friend made a noise of disapproval.

“He sounds great. Are you sure you don’t want to give dating him a try? Sounds like you’re already enamored with him.” There was another pause, and then Scully said slowly,

“No, I mean, as much as I would like to, I really have a lot of respect for him, his work, and his friendship. I would much rather just remain his friend than to risk a relationship with him. I would really hate to lose Mulder as a friend if things don’t work out. Besides, I don’t think I’m his type, and I don’t think he likes me half as much as I like him. I don’t even think he trusts me.”

The admission made Mulder frown as he stared at the remains of his sandwich. He was disappointed to hear that he gave the impression of not liking her. She frustrated him with her refusal to believe the things they’ve seen and done, but he genuinely cared for her and enjoyed her company.

“Why do you say that? He’s your partner, he’s kinda gotta trust you.”

“I know but… back on our first case, he was convinced that I was put there to undo his work, and that I had some sort of agenda. I still think that he believes I’m out to undo his work—and I understand where he’s coming from—the amount of effort he put into those cases, the fact that he knows them all in and out—Jem, it’s really something. He’s really wasted down there, sometimes, I feel, but… it’s his life. I don’t blame him for not wanting to trust me.”

Her friend let out a sigh, and they remained quiet for a while, until finally, Jem said,

“We oughta get going. I have a meeting in a bit, and I’m sure you’re just dying to get back to your research.” Scully laughed quietly, and once they gathered their things and left, Mulder let out a sigh of relief. He was left confused, but reminded he had to get going, too.

When Mulder made it back to the office, Scully was already there, looking through the books she had left on her chair. She did not look over when Mulder came in, but she did look up when Mulder took a seat at his desk across from her.

“Hey,” He said to her when she looked up. She removed her glasses, but her look was indifferent. Mulder was smiling softly.

“Agent Mulder, there you are. You know you’re a little late, right? Where did you go for lunch?” Her tone implied that his response would mean little either way, and that she was just making conversation for the sake of it.

“Oh, I went to the cafeteria upstairs. It didn’t really feel right going out to lunch without you. How did lunch go? You said you were meeting with your friend, right? How was it?” Scully eyed him with some suspicion, but she disregarded it as quickly as it had came up.

“It was okay. She’s working through a rough divorce, so she’s looking for lucky number 2. I told her I would keep an eye out.” Scully put her glasses back on and started to look though the books again, although Mulder noticed she was not turning pages.

“What’s she like?” Mulder asked, and Scully looked up, her eyes magnified by her glasses. There was a fleeting micro expression of fear.

“I don’t think you’d be interested, to be perfectly honest. She’s very, um…. Superficial, I would say.” Mulder gave her a curious look, but Scully did not respond. It was just as well because Mulder got up and took a casual stroll over to the file cabinet.

“That’s too bad, I guess. It gets pretty lonely at night but you know, that actually reminds me,” Mulder started carefully. He didn’t need to turn around to know he had Scully’s full attention. “I know I’m really bad at expressing certain emotions, but I’m sorry if I ever made you feel like your company was unwanted down here. That’s not true at all. I’m actually really happy to be working with you, and I value your skills as a professional, and your company, as a friend.”

“Mulder, please—”

“I just thought you needed to hear that because I have trouble vocalizing things like that sometimes.”

There was a silence between them, and then Scully asked flatly,

“Where were you sitting?”

“You know the booth with the potted plant, by the window? Behind it.”

Scully sighed, but Mulder turned around to face her, still smiling.

“I’ve already forgotten it. I won’t bring it up again.”

“Thank you.”


End file.
